


Parallel

by nonbinary_renfri



Series: Things That Might've Happened [1]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Boys Kissing, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff and Angst, Gardens & Gardening, Kaer Morhen, M/M, Plants, Witcher Training (The Witcher), also i know there's that bit from the books where the eyes come from the trial of the grasses, bc there's no real timeline on the witcher trials so....., but trial of dreams is responsible for night vision so???, implied nightmares, this is set when they're in their late teens, what is the truth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:27:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28433148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonbinary_renfri/pseuds/nonbinary_renfri
Summary: Both young witchers seek distraction in the night, and find each other.
Relationships: Eskel/Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia
Series: Things That Might've Happened [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2082609
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Parallel

Geralt is repotting plants in the greenhouse when Eskel comes in. Looking up as the larger witcher-in-training swings open the door, Geralt soon finds himself returning his attention to the task he’s set himself as the other simply lingers without saying anything. Some of the potted monstrosities have started snaking their roots out of the drainage holes in their vessels, so it is clearly time for them to be relocated to slightly more spacious homes. Geralt likes working with plants; they don’t require much of him and they allow him to get his hands dirty without a good portion of the mess being blood and guts, like so many other aspects of his witcher’s training. Just rich, dark soil beneath his nails and his shirt clinging to his back with the sweat of simple hard work.

Of course, if there is one thing that can distract him from the tranquil headspace of gardening, it’s Eskel brushing a light kiss to the back of his neck as his fingertips dance along the line of Geralt’s shoulder blade.

Geralt turns his head to look, but the other witcher-in-training is already slipping back, out of his peripheral vision. Letting out a quiet huff, Geralt checks on the root-bound plant he has soaking and ignores Eskel’s lurking form behind him. It has still been less than a month since they both finished recovering from the Trial of Dreams, Geralt faster than Eskel in a way that had continued to peak the mages’ interest in him; a little strangeness between them is to be expected, and maybe even necessary right now. So little and yet so much has changed.

It’s when he’s tucking the last of the soil around the plant in its new pot that Eskel makes his next move. His forehead comes to rest against Geralt’s shoulder, one hand wrapping around his bicep, before he tilts his head up and softly presses his lips to Geralt’s cheek.

He’s moving away again before Geralt can catch him, but he stays within eyesight this time, retreating to perch on a clear spot left among the plants strewn across a nearby workbench.

Geralt turns his concentration to the dilemma of a large hellebore plant overgrowing its pot. Eventually he decides it would either need to be planted outdoors somewhere or turned into two separate plants. He’s got both arms elbow-deep in soil, trying to loosen the roots and the dirt enough from the vessel to shake the plant free, when Eskel rises from his perch and stalks over, leaning across the table to press his fingers to the back of Geralt’s neck and tug him forward into a gentle kiss. He willingly lets himself be moved by the other’s touch.

Pulling back, Eskel looks at Geralt in the lantern light, dim enough that they would’ve struggled more to see each other only a few months ago. Verdant leaves coming up from the plant between them brush against the skin of his neck and Geralt’s eyes are molten gold, his chin-length chestnut locks curling around his handsome face. Eskel finds himself wondering if Geralt feels the same dangerous familiarity he does, seeing those similar slit-pupiled, amber-hued eyes looking back at him from Eskel’s face now. He wonders if it’s part of what gives him nightmares too. He leans in to bring their lips together again and it’s a little more desperate between them until Geralt sighs and pulls away, because he’s _still_ up to his elbows in dirt.

“Eskel. I’m in the middle of repotting the hellebore.”

“I can see that. It’s also the middle of the night. I could ask why you’re up doing the gardening, instead of resting your pretty head in bed.”

“And I could ask you the same about why you’re up and wandering.”

They both fall silent. Neither of them want to ask the question and neither want to answer it; it’s not as if they need to speak to know each other’s answer, anyway.

The table edge pressing into Eskel’s hip is growing slightly uncomfortable. He lets out a long exhale and presses his forehead to Geralt’s, eyes sliding shut. Following in kind, something in Geralt’s posture seems to loosen slightly.

“Come back to bed with me? We can just sleep, like when we were boys,” Eskel murmurs.

Breathing in deep through his nose, Geralt savors the familiar scents of woodsmoke and leather and cedar. He bumps their nose tips together, saying wryly with the slightest tinge of regret to his voice, “I really should finish what I started with the hellebore. You… you go ahead. I’ll join you when I’m finished here.” Geralt opens his eyes again to find Eskel has done the same and is squinting at him suspiciously. The corner of Geralt’s mouth quirks up into a subtle smile. “I promise,” he adds on, and Eskel’s look becomes slightly less skeptical, though only just.

“You better,” is the answer the larger seems to decide on, his palm warm against Geralt’s neck as he presses one last kiss to his forehead, the other witcher still pliantly leaning into his touch. Eskel only lingers a little bit longer before leaving the greenhouse, the door clicking shut near-silently behind him.

Geralt turns his attention back to the twisted roots he has finally freed from fired clay and finds himself almost wishing he had let Eskel pull him away, even if it meant more sleepless hours staring at the ceiling as his brain buzzed ceaselessly behind his ears. But no; he’ll let the rich smell of soil and the sweet, fresh aromas of the plants calm the beehive in his skull before attempting to return to bed, and then maybe he can fall asleep easily with his face pressed to the nape of Eskel’s neck and his pulse beneath his palm instead of restlessly tossing and turning and keeping them both awake.

It’s as he hoped, close to an hour later, when Geralt cracks open the heavy wooden door to Eskel’s chamber. He strips down to his smallclothes, sliding between the covers. Eskel comes half-awake as Geralt curls in close behind him, reaching a hand backwards to grasp his wrist and pull his arm to wrap over his waist. Allowing himself to be tugged towards the other’s warmth, Geralt places a kiss between Eskel’s shoulder blades where the fabric of his thin linen shirt is stretched taut by the breadth of his torso. Letting out a pleased grumble, Eskel pushes back into the touch and Geralt tucks the smile that brings to his face against the back of his larger bedmate’s neck. Sleep is easy to find when he reaches for it, nestled as he is, with clean hands except for the dark remnants of dirt beneath his nails and the noise of his mind quieted to a background hum beneath the sounds of Eskel alive against him. If any further dreams stir Geralt’s slumber that night, they slip from his memory, leaving his rest undisturbed. He hopes his own presence brings the other witcher something like the same sort of peace.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as a request fic for @geraltsays on tumblr, and I finally got around to posting it on AO3. I hope you enjoyed! What was your favorite part? Please leave a comment if you'd like, it really helps my inspiration.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr @nonbinary-renfri!


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